Invited

[Likarok]

Well I was surprised this morning when a representative from GM Canada phoned me and invited me to the 2014 Silverdao/Sierra Tour. This is a Canada GM event that is traveling across Canada and inviting long time Chevy / GMC truck owners to come out and drive the 2014 trucks. My wife and I are registered to attend. It should be fun. Great food and GM Trucks.

 

I will be going to the event in Calgary, Alberta at Grey Eagle Casino on June 12th were invited guests will be able to view and test drive the new trucks. I have gone to a few of these events over the years but we have never been able to actually drive the trucks. The lady who called me said that they will have Ford, Dodge and Toyota trucks on hand as well to compare the Silverado / Sierra too. Not that I would even look at them..................ahahaha.

 

I will take lots of pics for you all!

[Daryl LBZ]

Sounds like a good time!

[Likarok]

Well this was a fun event! Did a bit of off road driving, a bit of simulated skid pad on a wet/slippery road and a trailer backing situation. There was an available Dodge comparison on the off road and a Ford comparison on the skid track.

 

To me it was a bit of an eye opener to do the comparison. In the off road the Dodge was embarrassing. Went through a twisty were the right rear tire on the trucks would come right off the ground. With only the limited slip diff the Dodge came to a complete stop. We had to put it into 4 wheel drive to get going again. Whereas the Chevy / GMC went right through in 2 wheel drive because of the locker differential.

 

While the Ford did have a locking diff. it had to be manually engaged and also put into 4 wheel drive to be engaged. Auto locking apparently is a $5,000.00 option on the truck model we were driving.

 

On the skid track the Chevy/GMC with Auto Track also stood out compared to the Ford truck. When we went through with the Ford simulating wet road snow conditions the Ford almost went right around. The GM"s in Auto Track kept us straight as a dime! I will admit I was impressed with the Ford Turbo Boost once the turbo spooled up but right out of the hole the Chevy/GMC 5.3 was a smoker.

 

In the backing competition I was very proud of my wife! I think she was the only women who backed the trailer in on the first try. My backing was funny actually because a women was ahead of me and she had the truck and trailer jack knifed and completely screwed up. She just though up her hands and got out of the truck. I just said to the girl at this station, "Would You Like Me to Fix That up for You"? so I jumped in and backed right in to the slot in the traffic cones. My wife and I both receive $25.00 gas cards for backing in the first time.

 

Overall a very fun event but because we were always driving we never got a lot of pics. Here are a couple though!

 

Twisty Dodge. The truck was stopped and the right rear was just spinning!

 

 

 

 

 

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Twisty Chevy just kept going

 

 

 

Love those wheels!

 

 

 

 

Uphill /downhill Chevy showing how the transmission stops you from rolling back or free wheeling down the front of the hill.

 

[MikeNH]

The locker on Fords absolutely isn't $5000, its just limited as to what models can get it. On a properly equipped truck it adds like $300-750 but GM or anyone else will play the numbers (ie the cost of adding it to a bare bones truck). Cool that they let you drive them in that environment though. I do wish GM would add a real selectable locker though. The G80 is crap.

[Likarok]

Well there you go!

 

All I Know is that Both the Ford and the Dodge looked foolish in both of these driving situations. The Dodge was a loaded Hemi truck and the Ford while not loaded showed that when compared to an equally equipped Chevy the Chevy did better on the skid track with Auto Track. The Chevy we drove on the skid track was not loaded either! To me the Ford seemed very ridiculous that you had to have the truck in 4 wheel drive to engage the locking diff. Also the damn knob to engage the locking diff on the Ford was behind the shift leaver were you could not even find it. You almost had to put the truck in park to engage the locking diff because you could hardly get your hand in behind the shifter.

 

Hey maybe that is why they have a floor console in their fancy trucks! hahahahah!

 

As I said before......NO pictures even come close to showing how nice these new Chevy and GMC trucks are! Not even close!

[MikeNH]

On F150s with electronic 4WD (obviously the most common setup) the locker knob is shared with the 4WD switch- you pull it out to enable the locker. I don't see it as being a big deal that 4WD is needed to use the locker- if traction is iffy I'll have it in 4WD anyhow. And I know before you could swap in a 4WD switch and transfer case module from a Raptor for cheap to enable the locker to work whenever. I would miss auto 4WD for sure though. It's mind-boggling that no one else does that.

 

After dinner I drove by both the GMC and Chevy dealers- still no 2014s in GM's home state! Well at least none here in the Jackson area.

[Likarok]

Well I supose if you have little girly hands you would not have trouble putting the Ford into 4x4 and turning the knob behind the shifter to engage it! I just find that it is in an asinine place to put the knob!

 

I know it was set-up so the Chevy and GMC's look the best, but in my opinion in the areas of what I find important in a truck, the Chevy / GMC did do better and looked way better doing it!

 

Lets face it! I am a GM person! A loyal GM person. I would never buy a Ford or a Dodge, so you are right. I am bias to the GM trucks. Maybe that is what having good luck with 15 of them in my life does!

 

I guess that is why I log onto a chat page that is called "GM Trucks .com". To talk about what I like in GM trucks!

[Stex]

Wish they did such an event around S. Tx.

 

Since you drive two 900s, how do you compare the new 5.3 power and 6sp shifting logic to the 900s? I hope the new trks programming is better so you are not in 6th gear at a lazy 40-45 mph, like I get on the back roads and then a very long accel pedal push to get it to downshift. In other words do the new ones drive more like a blackbear tune or more like the 900s?

[Prdtrgttr]

Thanks for the upate Likarok, sounds like a fun event. Cool pics as well! How would you compare the outgoing 5.3 to the incoming?

[Likarok]

Wish they did such an event around S. Tx.

 

Since you drive two 900s, how do you compare the new 5.3 power and 6sp shifting logic to the 900s? I hope the new trks programming is better so you are not in 6th gear at a lazy 40-45 mph, like I get on the back roads and then a very long accel pedal push to get it to downshift. In other words do the new ones drive more like a blackbear tune or more like the 900s?

 

 

Thanks for the upate Likarok, sounds like a fun event. Cool pics as well! How would you compare the outgoing 5.3 to the incoming?

 

Firstly we never drove at speed. That was ok! I had fun putting it to the rug. I especially liked driving the crap out of the Ford! haha I felt you could obviously tell on the Turbo Boost Ford the turbo hesitation until it spooled up.I could tell that the new GM 5.3's do have more jam........but really I have always found all new trucks seem to perform better. The "Step on the Gas" hesitation seems to be way better on the new GM trucks.

 

Over all it was a very fun event! Some food, Some gas gift cards, some gifts (Chevy Leatherman's and coffee mugs) and visiting with like minded individuals who like bashing Dodges and Fords at every opportunity! hahaha!

['01LS1]

Wish they did such an event around S. Tx.

 

Since you drive two 900s, how do you compare the new 5.3 power and 6sp shifting logic to the 900s? I hope the new trks programming is better so you are not in 6th gear at a lazy 40-45 mph, like I get on the back roads and then a very long accel pedal push to get it to downshift. In other words do the new ones drive more like a blackbear tune or more like the 900s?

 

It won't happen, but would love to see a full out magazine or pickuptrucks.com sort of test between a '13 & '14.

['01LS1]

The locker on Fords absolutely isn't $5000, its just limited as to what models can get it. On a properly equipped truck it adds like $300-750 but GM or anyone else will play the numbers (ie the cost of adding it to a bare bones truck). Cool that they let you drive them in that environment though. I do wish GM would add a real selectable locker though. The G80 is crap.

 

It was probably more in the aspect that you have to get a 4wd at what ever package level to get the locker vs the GM truck he mentioned that was 2wd. Thinking Ford just added their E locker option on the '12 or '13's?

 

I have not seen G80 issues that others seem to have on this forum, so am content to stick with it as is w/o having to screw with engaging the E lock knob.

[MikeNH]

The G80 isn't really prone to failure, it just isn't reliable in its operation in my experience. I've had mine kick in once and it took way more wheelspin than I'd want. But GM does that crap for bonehead drivers, I know what the truck is doing when I'm driving and I'd much rather take the half second to pull the knob than hope the G80 works. I love my truck but the G80 is the absolute worst thing about it to me, I'll take a real e-locker all day long. GM must've been duped into signing some massive contract with Eaton to use that crap for so long.

 

And again to the OP, I understand the layout is bad with a manual shifter but most will have the electronic switch and on those there is no interference issues.

[DRS 95 Silverado]

Did you drive any Z71's with the hill descent feature? I'm trying to decide if I want it or not.

[2018GMC]

Did you drive any Z71's with the hill descent feature? I'm trying to decide if I want it or not.

I've been building a 2014 an I want the hill desent button but the only way you can get that is with the z71 package. Not sure I can justify the cost if I'm going to possibly put bilstiens on the front for leveling. If I just put a spacer kit then I may do the z71 package since I would be keeping the stock ranching shocks.

 

I wonder what the max tire size is stock and with a front level kit?